A common method for mounting a connector at a forward portion of a circuit board, is to provide pegs on the connector that project through board holes, and to heat stake the lower ends of the pegs. In heat staking, hot forming tips press against the ends of the peg and melt and deform them against the lower surface of the board, so the pegs and connector cannot be removed from the board. In current presses, the circuit board with the connector thereon is mounted on a platform, with board retainers movable against opposite sides of the board to accurately align it with forming tips. The hot forming tips are then moved either downwardly towards the peg of an upside-down board, or moved upwardly against the pegs of an upright board. Heating apparatus heats the forming tips and a mechanism moves the heating mechanism with hot forming tips down or up towards the circuit board. Such currently available heat stake presses are relatively expensive, so a heat stake press which could be constructed at lower cost would be of value.
When a circuit board with connector thereon is to be mounted on the heat stake press, care must be taken to carefully align the connector pegs with the forming tips. For this reason, it is often preferable to mount the circuit board upside down on the support platform, so the pegs project upwardly where they can be readily seen, and to carefully lower the tips and sidewardly adjust the circuit board to assure alignment. This alignment practice is time consuming, and it requires a more complex support platform to reliably support the circuit board or connector when the forming tips are pushed down against the pegs. Apparatus for quickly and accurately aligning the peg holes of the circuit board with the forming tips would be valuable, especially if it facilitates use of a forming press where stationary hot forming tips lay under the circuit board.